A ritual nearly as old as the company itself takes place tonight when Hormel Foods Corp. stockholders of record hold their annual meeting at Austin High School.

The meeting begins at 8 p.m. in Richard L. Knowlton Auditorium.

A first-ever green house gas emissions disclosure proposal may be one of the items discussed at tonight’s meeting.

Jeffrey M. Ettinger, chairman, president and chief executive officer, will chair the stockholders’ meeting.

A board of 13 directors will be elected to start the meeting.

Stockholders will also vote on ratification of the appointment of the audit committee of the board of directors of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered accounting firm for fiscal 2009. Also on the agenda will be approval of the company’s 2009 long-term incentive program and non-employee director deferred stock plan.

The annual meeting agenda will consider a stockholder’s proposal, regarding disclosure of green house gas emissions caused by individual products caused by product packaging if presented at the meeting as well as other matters that may come before the meeting.

Based in Austin, Hormel Foods is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products. The company was founded in 1891 by Geo. A Hormel. In each of the past nine years, Hormel Foods was recognized as one of “The 400 Best Big Companies in America” by Forbes magazine.